


Falling for the Stars

by sciencebiatch



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Hosie, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencebiatch/pseuds/sciencebiatch
Summary: Most people don't have a soulmate in this world. It was normal to not be destined to match up to a singular person, but rather have the opportunity to meet a range of people.This, however, was not the case for Josie Saltzman, whose arm was currently bearing a the same blue pen streak that she saw on Hope Mikaelson earlier today.Soulmate AU where anything you write on your body also appears on your soulmates.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 43
Kudos: 453





	1. Chapter 1

The ball rang out and the silence of the classroom was broken by the books being shuffled together and chairs scraping against the ground as the class started to pack up their belongings wanted to end the day. "Everyone enjoy your rest of the day and don't forget to complete the questions on page 230 by tomorrow!" Dorian yells out as everyone started to pour out of the classroom.

Josie Saltzman, felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her sister Lizzie standing next to her, waiting impatiently to leave. Josie quickly apologised before grabbing her pen and scribbling 'Homework. Page 230' on her arm, as she started to pack up her things so they could leave.

"Well that class was a drag," Lizzie complained, linking their arms up as they walked to the library to spend their next spare period. "I don't think MG thought it was that bad, I caught him staring at you at least 3 times," Josie remarked back, teasing her sister about her admirer.

"How would you know, your head was stuck in your book the whole time, you didn't even hear the bell go off," Lizzie tried to redirect the conversation off MG, but Josie saw the light blush run across her cheeks when she mentioned his name. She thinks that as much as Lizzie wants to brush MG off, she secretly loves the attention and probably him.

Lizzie led Josie to a set of tables in the centre of the library and while Josie set out to complete the homework that Dorian just gave them so she wouldn't have to do it tonight, it seemed like Lizzie had other plans.

"What do you think Raf and Landon over there see in Hope?" Lizzie flicks her pen towards Hope who is hanging out with the new kids Landon and Raf. "You're just jealous Lizzie, Hope has never done anything wrong to you," Josie told her sister, looking over at Hope and wondering if she'd ever seen Hope hang out with anyone ever before she had met Landon and Raf. She was

"Never done anything!" Lizzie remarked, "she ruined everything for us Josie - or have you forgotten all the summers that we didn't get to away because of HER."

Josie looked down at her book, not wanting to meet eyes with her sister because she didn't want her to see that she was keeping a secret from her sister. "Just ignore them Lizzie." The brunette mumbled back to her sister as she tried to get back to actually studying - but evidently that response did not suffice with her twin.

The next thing that Josie heard was Hope's voice yelp out and Lizzie giggle next to her.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Hope stood up, picking up the pen that Lizzie just threw at her tossing it back towards Lizzie who ducked, letting it fly over her head. Josie looked up to see Lizzie smirking and when she looked at Hope she saw a blue pen streak across her arm where her twin had thrown the pen at her. Josie quickly glanced up to Hope's face and the smile she had before was gone and Josie felt a pang in her stomach, wanting to see her smile again.

"Lizzie, you should apologise" The brunette whispered at her twin angrily, pointing her head at Hope who was still standing there staring at them, furiously trying to rub the pen mark off her arm. "Why should I apologise, she's basically ruined my life, why are you standing up for her!" Lizzie whispered angrily back at Josie before turning away from her.

Looking back at Hope, Josie's eyes connected with hers for a moment and she mouthed her a sorry and received a light smile from Hope back, before she sat back down to continue her conversation with Landon and Raf. Josie knew that Hope wasn't that upset with Lizzie, it was a rare for them to not have an argument a day.

Lizzie continued being mad at Josie for the rest of the day and Josie didn't really feel like she had anything to apologise for, so the twins stayed mad at each other not speaking for the rest of their classes and throughout dinner - making it very tense for their friends around them too not wanting to seem like they were picking a side or make it worse between them.

When the twins were fighting the air in the school seemed tense with the two girls normally interacting with everyone around them, laughing and making jokes, while now everyone tread around them like they were about to break. Mg had placed his hand on Lizzie shoulder to ask if she was alright and she had siphoned from him and used that power to repel him away into a wall. No one dared to speak to either of them after that - it wasn't until their Dad knocked on their door later that night and forced them to work it out that Josie caved to speak to her sister.

"Lizzie … I'm sorry for being angry at you, but I do think that you should've apologised to Hope - you threw a pen at her" Josie started out, still scared to face her sister eye to eye, not wanting her twin to yell at her again. "I can't believe you keep taking her side!" The blonde twin evidently wasn't ready to forgive her sister.

"I'm not siding with her! You were the one that threw the pen and you hurt Mg just before." Josie felt the anger in her start to rise up as her sister didn't even feel bad for her actions.

"She deserved it." Lizzie brushed her twin off again, walking towards her dresser to pick up her pjs to change into.

"And Mg?" Josie pressed her twin, knowing that they can't ignore how she pummelled him into a wall for merely asking if she was okay.

"Okay.. Mg didn't deserve it." Lizzie grabbed her clothes and sat back down on her bed sighing beginning to feel bad for hurting Mg when he didn't do anything wrong. He was going to hate her now, she needed to apologise to him when she saw him next.

"You should be nicer to her - she doesn’t deserve this." The brunette continued, not wanting to leave the conversation left unfinished. Hope had always seemed so alone and sometimes Josie considered going up to her but Lizzie would never forgive her for wanting to befriend her.

"Yes she does- she's ruined everything and she keeps taking Dad away from us. Does that not bother you?" She knew that Lizzie was right, Hope and their Dad did spend a lot of time together, probably more time than he did with them but she always knew that it was different for Hope. "She has no family Lizzie, Dad is the closest thing she has to family," Josie points out, "Anyway, Dad still loves us and …" she trailed off, meeting her eyes with Lizzie" we have each other."

Lizzie quickly moved to the other side of her bed and hugged her twin, immediately feeling bad for ignoring her all day.

"I'm sorry Jo." Josette hugs her tight back, nodding her head against her twin to show that she forgave her, "Will you try to be nicer to Hope though?" Josie tried, really wanting the three of them to not all hate each other.

Lizzie backs away from their hug making a face at Josie, "Ugh fine. But if she does anything else than I'm done playing nice." Josie's face broke into a smile hearing that her sister was willing to try, "Deal. But for me to officially forgive you I am using the shower first today before you use up all our hot water."

Josie smiled running towards their bathroom quickly before Lizzie could try to beat her to it. As Josie showered and began to redress she noticed that her homework note to self she'd left this morning hadn't come off completely. Running her wrist back under the water, she used soap to scrub the remainder of the ink off - that's when she noticed the other pen mark across her other arm.

It was a smudged blue pen streak.

She immediately tried to rub the other pen mark off too, confused about when she had gotten it, but it wouldn't come off. She removed her arms from the water and dried herself and redressed before she looked at her arm again and realised that the pen streak was still there and basically in the same condition as when she'd seen it before. Josie touched the pen marks again and when she did she felt her arm tingle under the touch and she swore that the pen marks sparkled as she ran her hand over the line.

To say that she was confused was to say the least. Josie pulled her sleeve back down and opened the bathroom door to go as her sister about it but she found Lizzie already asleep on her bed - probably needing the rest from when she used her powers before. Josie tucked herself into her bed her arm finding itself holding onto the spot where the pen mark lay as if it made her feel more calm when she felt it. She made a mental reminder to ask her sister about the mark the next day and quickly found herself falling into a slumber as well.


	2. Chapter 2

The voices heard around the room began to quieten down until the only sounds left were those of chairs squeaking as students shifted their weight around waiting for the principal to begin his announcements for the day. "I'd like to address a few matters this morning, the first of which is about the clique-ness of this school," Josie looked at her twin confused at what their dad was talking about. Normally he spoke to them before he made any changes to the school and they definitely had not heard anything about this.

As the mumbles in the room grew louder as the silence past, Alaric took it upon himself to continue his point until he would be bombarded with questions which he was trying to avoid. "I understand that while you all are most comfortable with your own faction - be it the wolves with their pack, and the witches and vampires in their respective groups - I think we all need to be more open and welcoming to each other," Ric opened his arms out trying to make a gesture but by the faces of his students he could see that they were not enjoying his proposition. "And to help with this, I have spoken to all your teachers and they will now be choosing your seats and mixing you all around a bit more, so we can all hopefully makes some new friends. That is all - you are dismissed."

"Is this because of me and Hope?" Lizzie mumbled to her sister, the two of them standing up and waiting to go talk to their Dad. "I really doubt it Lizzie, you've hated Hope forever - BUT you did promise you would change and now there's no better reason because you'll also be supporting Dad's cause." While still confused to what brought upon this sudden want for change from their dad, Josie liked the prospect of everyone mingling more. While her and Lizzie had friends that were vampires and werewolves alike, everyone else seemed very attached to their clique.

"Dearest Father …" Josie watched her sister put on her most sweet little act for their dad, "Why are you doing this to us?"

"It's for your own good - and for the school. I'm sure it won't be too bad" Their Dad responded before excusing himself to go talk to some of the other teachers.

Walking to their first class Lizzie and Josie went down to sit at their usual spot before Emma interrupted them, making the whole class stand up and hold their books as she was moving them around.

"Lizzie you'll be sitting with Caleb"

Lizzie mocked a groan before sitting down with Caleb on the other side of the room from where they normally sit. _She's lucky_ , Josie thought _, at least she's sitting with one of their friends._

"Hope, you'll come join Josie up the front here."

Josie turned around to see Hope standing with Landon at the back of the class. _Had she always been in this class, why hadn't I noticed her before_. Josie sat back down in her usual seat and tried not to look directly at Hope as she sat down next to her.

Josie silently kept staring at her empty desk as the rest of the seating pairs were called out. She didn't know if she was meant to say anything to Hope, she would admit that sometimes Hope could seem quite brooding and she didn't want to start by saying something that would embarrass herself.

As Josie's hand pressed against the side of her right arm she found herself breathing in a scent of peppermint and realised that it was coming from Hope. She felt a smile reach her lips as she mentally thought at how she loved the smell of peppermint.

The brunette looked up and realised that the class had already started and she had just spent the past few minutes staring at her empty desk. She looked back to find her twin and she saw Lizzie point at Hope before making a gagging face, teasing her for being paired up Hope. Emma set them to work on the topic questions and Josie opened up her textbook still wondering whether she should say anything to Hope.

"Page 230 … page 230." Josie peaked to her right to see Hope mumbling to herself as she kept flicking through their textbook.

"I don't think this book goes to page 230." Josie found herself pointing out to Hope as she flipped to the back of the book to see that the last page number ended in 157.

Hope slammed the book shut abruptly ignoring Josie looking forward at the board with a confused look. "Why did I wrote page 230 then …" Josie heard her mutter before Hope reopened her textbook to the pages that was set for them.

They then spent the rest of the class in silence. Josie kept looking back to see Lizzie and Caleb laughing at something, missing sitting next to her sister. When the class ended Josie did not waste anytime packing her things up, excited to leave and back to her sister. Just as she was about to leave the sound of plastic hitting the ground stopped her as a pen tapped the edge of her shoe. Josie bent down to pick it up and turned to see Hope right behind her. Josie felt her voice get caught in her throat not expecting Hope to be so close to her.

From this distance the younger brunette could smell that the peppermint scent was coming off Hope's hair and wondered what brand of shampoo the older witch used. When her other senses then kicked in and she noticed that Hope was quite smaller than her and she wondered if she leant forward she could rest her head on top of Hopes. 

A coughing sound brought Josie back to her senses as she saw Lizzie standing behind Hope, her arms perched on her hips, looking at her and Hope. Josie quickly held out the pen she had been holding onto and Hope grabbed it before saying a quick thanks and left to go see Landon.

Josie wondered how long Lizzie had been standing there watching them, she hoped not long otherwise she would need to make an excuse as to why it happened - and she didn't even know the answer to the truth - just in the moment she felt a pull to stay.

"What's her deal?" Lizzie snarked about Hope.

"You said you'd be nice" Josie told her off, remembering how Hope had said thanks to her when she'd handed her the pen and wondering if she didn't hate her as much.

"I know but with a face like hers it's kind of hard!" Lizzie laughed out, sitting down at their usual table for lunch.

"Lizzie!" Josie scolded back, "I think Hope's quite pretty." Josie confessed casually, hoping that her twin wouldn’t think too much of it.

"Ew!" The blonde girl made a gagging face again before joining in Mg's conversation about comic books giving Josie the opportunity to slip away back into their room.

Once she had shut the door Josie went straight to her bedside table drawer and opened up her book of fairytales, flipping until she found the small envelope that she had hidden in it. Peeking back at her door to make sure that it was shut, the brunette sat down on her bed and slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a neatly folded letter. Placing the envelope back onto the side table she unfolded the letter and started reading it,

" _Dear Hope,"_ Josie read the letter out quietly to herself, " _I saw you crying in your room before, I hope you are okay. I know Lizzie seems harsh at times, but you can come talk to us anytime you like…"_

The letter continues on. Josie knows that she didn't really need to pull it out to read it, she knew it off by heart, but somehow reading the last few words felt different this time.

" _I wanted to know if you would like to go out on a date with me._

  * _Josie. "_



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys are enjoying :) please let me know if you aren't !


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's a little short. Alsoo .. the soulmate writing on skin trope came from one of my favourite fics 'Love Letters' by Sunalso (so if anyone is a fs fan, please go check it out).

Josie had been running late to her classes all day. Since waking up late, she'd just fallen behind with the rest of her day, arriving at each class late having to catch up on what she'd missed at the end, therefore repeating the cycle for the next class. When she rushed into her Potions class all the eyes turned towards her as she awkwardly made her way to the front of the class to sit next to Hope. The class went silent as Emma waited for the brunette to take her seat before continuing the class. Josie used it as a moment to take a breather, even though she knew she'd regret it having to ask later what they were even learning in todays class. 

When Emma had finished talking everyone else in the class seemed to know exactly what to do, everyone except Josie. The poor girl sat there looking confused as ever as the chatter started to increase around her and she let out a silent groan, letting her head drop to the table, realising that today was definitely not her day. 

"We have to choose a potion from the book and try and concoct a perfect vial of it by the end of the week," Hope spoke out turning her head towards Josie slightly. 

Josie nodded, "You can choose which one we do - I really don’t mind. I can get the ingredients." Hope stated out before turning back away. 

So not only did she have to sit next to Hope, but they had to work together now. It took her a moment to respond to what Hope was saying and that's when she realised that she was not okay with them taking individual tasks and not working together. "I'm sure Emma would want us to work TOGETHER on this, so we can BOTH get the ingredients once we choose a potion." Hope turned towards Josie with a surprised look on her face, even Josie was a bit surprised with herself that she said all of that with so much confidence. A small part of her wanted Hope to notice her more and she evidently succeeded. 

"Oh … Okay, sure." Hope replied, realising that she probably wasn't going to win arguing with the younger girl. 

They went back into silence after that, both of them flipping through the book, occasionally asking each other what they thought of a certain potion and then adding it to a list of potential options. 

When the class ended they had a list of 5 options, "Shall we pick one each and then decide from the two?" Hope suggested, quickly copying down the list they'd made into her book and when Josie agreed they parted ways and from that moment on Josie's day suddenly felt a whole lot better. 

Later that night, as Josie caught up on her homework for the day she realised that she never caught up with one of her professors about what she'd missed that morning, grabbing a pen she unconsciously went to write it on her wrist - a bad habit she knew, but she always forgot if she wrote it down in her diary. As she started to write she noticed that there was something already written on her wrist 'Training 8am' , written neatly on her wrist. 

Training … Training .. Josie's train of thought racked through her day and tried to figure out why she would have written that down, especially considering she didn't really have any need to train for anything. Without much thought she crossed it out, figuring it would be easier than to make a smudge if she tried to rub it off. Underneath it she wrote out 'Catch up Hist. of Magic' before recapping her pen and continuing onto her next subject that needed to be done. When she pulled out her Potions textbook she realised that they weren't set the usual questions for the day, but she had her group project with Hope. Josie didn't know how she felt being partnered with Hope, a part of her was excited to just be able to hopefully talk to her a bit more but the other part was scared that her feelings for her might come back. 

While reading up more on the types of potions that her and Hope could possibly create, Josie's eye caught onto the writing she'd just left on her arm. She quickly pulled up her sleeve further to see that her message to herself had been crossed out and the training had been recircled. Without thinking much the brunette took her pen and scribbled all over the Training message, covering it completely and then she just stared at her arm - she wasn't sure what she was waiting for but she was beginning to think that someone was playing a big prank on her. Suddenly she saw pen movement on her arm and it wasn't coming from her, she gasped out of shock and she quickly put her hand against the wall trying to absorb some of the magic from the walls and tried to use a spell to stop whatever curse that was currently put up on her. When that didn't work, she tried to spell away the ink totally but only her own note and all the scribbling she did disappeared leaving the circled training message. Holding her arm tighter Josie just stared at it, she wasn't sure what she thought would happen but she wasn't expecting all the writing to disappear. For half a second she thought that maybe her spell had worked but with a delay but then new words appeared … 'what the hell is going on?' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments and kudos make my day :)


	4. Chapter 4

Lizzie was woken up by the sound of Josie rustling through her backpack and pulling out one of her textbooks, running back off to her own bed flipping through the pages with a furrowed brow. For a moment the blonde twin thought she must be imagining it all, because why would Josie be needing her textbook and honestly who wanted to study this early in the morning. She tried to shut her eyes to go back to sleep but now the sound of her sister moving around had officially woken her up. Groaning she caught Josie's attention, who had now realised that she had accidentally woken her sister up and responded with a sad pout hoping to express that she was sorry. Silence then fell over the room as Lizzie just lay up staring at their ceiling and Josie grew up the courage to tell her sister what was going on. 

"I think I've got a soulmate," Josie blurted quickly, before looking anywhere than her sister. 

"What?!" Lizzie was officially awake now. 

The brunette sighed and repeated herself again, slower this time. 

"How do you know? Are you sure, someone could just be playing a cruel prank on you?" Josie finally looked at her sister who was sitting up on her bed now. 

"I had a note on my arm reminding myself not to forget my training. But I don't even train for anything," Josie threw her arms up in exasperation, "And then I tried to use all the spells I possibly could to get rid of it but nothing worked." 

"That doesn't mean you have a soulmate though …" Lizzie dragged on, still unsure whether her twin was happy or sad about having a soulmate. 

"We spoke for hours last night- they were just as confused as I was and they said they'd tried of ways to get rid of the marks too but nothing worked." 

"You spoke FOR HOURS? Josie do you know how dangerous that could be, you don't know who they are, did you tell them where you live? Or that you're a witch - for all we know they could be a witch hunter!" The blonde looked at her twin with a look that made Josie feel angry that her sister would think that she was that dumb. 

"Lizzie, I’m not that stupid. Although I did try to tell them my name but when I write it, it disappeared - I'm trying to see if I can find anything on soulmates in our textbooks if not I was going to check the library later today" Josie felt embarrassed now, even though she felt like there was already a connection between her and the person she wrote to last night, she couldn't be sure. 

"That's because you can't write your name to your soulmate dummy," Lizzie told her sister before getting out of bed and walking to get ready for school that day, "Jo, even if they are your soulmate they could live on the other side of the world, or they might already be in a relationship, I've even heard of soulmates that are unrequited - so don't get too attached, I don't want you to get hurt." 

The brunette knew that her sister was right and she didn't want to get hurt either but she also knew that she wanted to write a good morning message on her arm right now hoping that they'd see it and reply but Josie convinced herself not to and she told herself that she must not get too attached - they hadn't even spoken for a full day and here she was wondering whether they were cute. 

Lizzie ended up agreeing to go with Josie to search the library for more information on soulmates. Josie had so many questions that she was hoping that some books would be able to help her answer. Her sister told her that she wouldn't be able to tell her soulmate her name or her exact address but there were ways around it like mentioning a concert that was playing at a certain day and time and then you'd meet each other there - but Josie knew that wasn't on the agenda just yet. 

After an hour she'd started to realise that there wasn't much information on soulmates and that it was still a very unknown type of magic that existed. It started as a curse on witches where they ended up destined to a human but then years later and mixed bloodlines meant that anyone could have a soulmate; witch, human, vampire, werewolf. It was in the last book that Josie could find that mentioned soulmates that she got an answer to the big question she was wondering, why did she only find out about her soulmate now? She knew that she'd been writing on her arms for as long as she could remember, so surely her soulmate would noticed before now. 

'Soulmate markings appear when both you and your soulmate have peace' 

Well that could not be more vaguer Josie questioned. What does it even mean to have peace. The young girl had never really considered the concept much but she never saw her life as being unpeaceful - so she decided that it must not have been her soulmates time until now. She had an itching to write to them and ask if they have found peace, but realised that that might be a weird thing to ask so she pulled out a pen and simply write 'Hi' on her arm, waiting for a moment before pulling down her sleeve and going to class, both excited to get a reply but also nervous she might not. 

As Josie approached her seat she saw that Hope was already there, hunched over her side of the desk. When she neared she saw Hope quickly pull down at her sleeve crossing her arms and giving her a slight smile. The older girl opened up her book and pulled out a small folded sheet of paper and placed it near the top of their desks, Josie did the same and then they both grabbed each others piece of paper and opened it to read what topic they'd each chosen. After a moment Josie looked back up to see that Hope was staring right at her, she felt Hopes gaze on her and a blush spread across her cheeks seeing the other girls almost cheeky grin. 

"I guess that's our topic chosen then - Liquid Luck" Hope awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, her gaze dropping from Josie's as they'd both realised that they were staring for a little too long. 

Josie let out a nervous laugh before nodding her head turning to where Emma had started addressing the class as a whole. 

"What does that even say?" Josie pulled the paper that Hope was writing on away from her, holding it up to the light and exaggerating a squint at the other girls messy handwriting. 

Hope tried to grab the paper back from her and for a moment as Josie tried to move it further away from the other girl their arms brushed and Josie felt a shiver run all the way down her spine. She felt a knot form in her throat and she quickly glanced at Hope and she could have sworn that the girl tensed up for a moment too. The two girls watched the piece of paper that Josie had accidentally let go of fall to the ground before they both moved to grab at it. 

"From now on, I'm writing all our things down - your hand writing is hideous." she announced when she reached the piece of paper first. She smiled at Hope teasingly who returned a pout, making Josie's crumble more than she'd like to admit. 

By the time the class ended Josie realised just how easily Hope was to talk to and how they'd gotten along so much better than she thought they would. It caused her to totally forget about the message she'd written to her soulmate earlier and Josie hurriedly pulled up her sleeve to see a sideways 'Hey :)' scribbled back at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait guys - hope you are all staying safe and indoors!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops

_I love fairy tales. I know it seems childish but they make me feel like the world is safe when I get to escape reading them._

Josie hesitated for a moment, did writing that make her seem too childish? Was her soulmate judging her now? Maybe this would make them not want to reply to her anymore? She almost grabbed her cloth to rub it out when she saw writing start to appear and she felt herself relax back into her chair, her legs curled up underneath her staring at her arm waiting for the reply.

_I don't think that's childish at all. Sometimes it's nice to escape the world to your own magical place._

I already live in a world of magic, Josie thought to herself - but that probably wasn't something she was ready to confide to her soulmate her.

_Do you have a favourite fairy tale? -H_

Josie sat up straighter in her seat. Well that's new, she thought to herself. She always just assumed not being able to write your soulmates name meant that you couldn't initial it or anything similar to that. Her soulmates name started with H, a smile unconsciously reached her lips with every new thing she learns about them making her feel like she knew them just a little bit more. She held out her left arm, wiped _o_ ff her previous message and then uncapped her pen to write a reply.

_I love beauty and the beast. Belle is just my favourite, she's so caring yet smart and I love how the story is about learning to accept and love. - J_

Josie sat and waited for a reply. She doubted that she said anything wrong this time, maybe H just had to leave urgently. She checked the time on her phone jumped up quickly realising that she was late. She pulled down her sleeve making sure that no one could see any of her writing and then rushed down to the storeroom where she was meant to meet Hope for their assignment almost 10 minutes ago now.

"I'm so sorry Hope. I just got caught up in …"

How did she explain that she was writing to her potential soulmate for the past hour and forgot to meet her partner. "work and I forgot." Josie told Hope nervously, hoping she wouldn't question about her whereabouts further.

"It's alright, I'll be honest I just got here I thought I was going to be the late one." Hope grinned at Josie.

Josie pulled out their list of ingredients and they decided to split up the list collecting three items each.

The worked silently for a while, both girls searching through the packed storeroom to find each ingredient. Three items each didn't seem much, but no one had dared to organise the storeroom in years leaving everything to be placed in weird and hidden places.

Even though they were doing such a mundane task Josie felt quite nervous. She wasn't sure if it was just because the storeroom was very dusty and maybe she was having a hard time breathing, or if it was it was just her and Hope in the room. Every few moments she'd turn around to see where Hope was , she told herself it was to make sure that Hope hadn't accidentally touched a poisonous plant and was actually silently dying - but she never was.

"Sooo why were you late?" Josie decided to break the silence, turning around to find Hope staring back at her from the other side of the room. Each time Hope's gaze met hers she felt like she was in a trance and she never wanted to look away. 

"I was talking to …to" Hope trailed off. Josie watched her waiting for a reply.

"Professor Saltzman!" Hope blurted out quickly, "yes, your dad wanted to see me." Hope muttered to herself.

Josie knew that something felt off about Hope's reply. Why was she so hesitant to tell her that she was with her dad, Hope saw her dad almost more than she did. Their eyes met across the room for just a slight moment and in that second Josie felt like she should ask Hope what she was REALLY doing, considering her answer seemed so off. She placed her hand to lean against the table behind her when she felt a sharp pain run through her body just as she was about to reply to Hope again.

Josie yelped out in pain before looking back to see that she had put her hand on a broken glass jar and she was now bleeding from it. Josie was never good with pain, or blood, the sight of her hand made herself feel quite weezy. She was about to tell Hope when she heard the other girls footsteps speed across the room to where she was standing and for a moment all the pain went away because Josie's senses were all taken up by the smell of Hope standing so close next to her.

"I'm going to pull up your sleeve so we don't get any more blood on it then I’m going to heal you - okay?"

Josie unconsciously nodded before realising what Hope had said and then a wave of panic flew over her as Hope pulled up the sleeve of her shirt. Josie's breath stopped watching Hope carefully fold and roll up her shift so that it was at her elbow.

"Josie? Josie are you okay? Are you feeling faint, do we need to sit down?"

Josie rattled her mind thinking of how she was going to explain the random writing on her arm, when she looked down quickly and realised that she had currently cut her right hand and that her secret writings with H were still hidden from Hope.

"Sorry, yes I'm fine," Josie replied quickly, realising now that she was panicking for nothing, "just not a big fan of blood."

Hope quickly whispered a spell and then the bleeding stopped and the cut slowly began to heal itself, she quickly found an old roll of bandages hidden in one of the drawers in the room.

Josie watched Hope as she continued to wrap the bandage around Josie's hand. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and her lips slightly parted. The hair on her arm was stood up as she could feel Hopes breath breathing down on it. Hope's familiar peppermint scent was once again filling her nose and for a moment Josie wondered whether Hope would taste like peppermint as well. She felt herself naturally leaning her body towards the shorter girl, when Hope whispered that she had finished and both girls quickly moved back from each other, both girls eyes trying to focus on something else other than each other.

"Thanks" Josie mumbled quickly before she turned her back away from Hope and kept searching for the last item on her list which she knew was meant to be right in front of her.

Josie could feel her heartbeat still pounding, trying to stray her mind away from constantly thinking about the other girl. She assumed that Hope would have moved further away by now but she could still feel her presence a few feet away.

Josie turned her head to the left to see Hope just aimlessly staring at the wall ahead of her, her cheeks and lips brighter than they were before.

Josie let out an awkward cough to grab back Hope's attention, who was now wearing a slightly flustered look.

"I finished my items - did you need help with your last one?"

Josie showed Hope what the last item on the list was and they both started looking.

This meant that Hope was closer to Josie than she even was before, their arms were touching as they both checked the labels of each of the small bottles trying to find sage. 

A few moments passed with no luck in finding the sage and Josie was starting to wonder maybe there wasn't any even in the storeroom, when both girls heard the store being swung open and Lizzie's laugh echoing across the room followed by another pair of footsteps.

Almost instinctively Josie ducked down, grabbing Hope's arm and pulling the other girl along with her, until they were both hidden under the table.

"Why are we hiding?" Hope whispered to Josie to which Josie motioned for her to be quiet.

"No one has to know - there won't be anyone in here" Lizzie's spoke out seductively, before what could only be described as sounds of two people making out continued.

Hope looked at Josie with a slight look of disgust, which Josie could only agree with.

"What do we do now?" Hope whispered to Josie, both of them realising they've basically trapped themselves underneath a table with no clear path to the door without being seen, "Why did you even pull me down here in the first place?"

Josie tried to form an answer but she honestly couldn't. Why was her first instinct to hide down here? And why did she have to take Hope with her? It's not like they were doing anything wrong.

It Josie thought that they were closer before, they were even closer now. The side of Hope's body pressed fully against Josie's and from this closeness she could also smell a hint of strawberry along with the peppermint from Hope. Josie turned to face the older girl still trying to find an explanation for her behaviour and she found herself staring right into the eyes of the other girl, their noses brushing slightly.

The older brunette knew that she should move back slightly but she was frozen. She saw Hope's pupils dilate and she felt her lips fall open slightly as she took in Hope's face. Josie wondered with Hope would do if she leaned in closer. She could feel Hopes breath mingling with her own and she swore that she started to see Hope's eyes begin to close when suddenly she heard a bang.

She quickly pulled away, and saw Hope do the same. She saw that flustered look run over Hope's cheeks again before she turned to quickly see that she'd knocked over a few items that were squished behind her.

Both girls went dead silent trying to see if they'd been discovered but when they realised they weren't Josie felt an awkward air appear over them. She didn't know whether she should say something, she could have sworn they were about to have a moment, but maybe she was also reading into it.

"I could spell us so we can't be seen and we can quickly escape" Hope broke their silence and suggested.

Josie nodded, realising now that her moment to say anything had passed.

Hope held out her hand and the younger brunette took it as Hope whispered the spell before leading them quickly out of the storeroom.

Josie felt her eyes widen when she realised that it was Mg that Lizzie was making out with, but she forced her mouth to not gasp and quickly followed Hope out of there.

"Shame we couldn't find the sage …" Josie trailed off once they were outside the room.

Hope grinned at her in reply before pulling a small vial out of her pocket, "I saw it just as Lizzie came into the room, grabbed it just then as we left."

"That's everything then" Josie announced, despite it being obvious to both girls. Hope just nodded in reply.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Hope told the taller girl before awkwardly looking at their hands still intertwined.

Josie quickly dropped Hope's hand, not realising that she hadn't let go even though they were clear from the room. She felt a bright blush reach her face as she rubbed the back of her neck before quickly telling Hope she'd see her later and running off, not wanting to make the situation worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did hope to get chapters up faster but life has just been getting in the way. i love you guys so much x


	6. Chapter 6

Josie spent the rest of the weekend hiding in her room. She'd told Lizzie that she was behind and needed to catch up on her work, and Lizzie happily left her alone in their room - but Josie now knew it was because she was secretly sneaking around with Mg. What she didn't tell Lizzie however was that she was hiding from Hope - well Hope wasn't actively searching her out, she just didn't want to accidentally bump into her in the library, or around the halls, after their storeroom adventure she was too embarrassed to face the other girl.

Josie kept reliving all of those fleeting moments with Hope over and over in her head again. It made her heart flutter, and her cheeks blush every time she remembered just how close Hope was to her and how it felt to hold her hand. A part of her wanted to experience it all again, but she knew that in reality she was sure that Hope probably wanted to just get out of the whole situation as fast as possible.

She was scared that if she saw Hope all of the emotions she was currently feeling, but still trying to desperately ignore, would all come rushing back and she wouldn't be able to control what comes out of her mouth or her actions - so her plan was to stay in her room for the whole weekend and try to focus her mind on other things.

Luckily for Josie, she had H to keep her company - it was the perks of having a soulmate, you were never really alone anymore. Josie and H had been growing closer and closer, Josie had told her how she sometimes feels like she's always living in her sisters shadow and H confessed how she'd lost some people really close to her over the past few years and she was only just beginning to blame herself less and less for it. With every conversation Josie wished more that she could meet H and they could have a proper conversation face to face, she knew they'd get along in person as they do through writing.

_"It sounds like you're beginning to find peace with yourself, that's amazing - I guess that's why we can write to each other now - J "_

_"What do you mean?"_ H replied, circling Josie's word 'now' and drawing question marks around it.

_"I read in a textbook that soulmate marks only appear once we've both found peace"_

_"Do you really think we are soulmates?"_

Oh. Josie hadn't thought that H might not think they were soulmates. She didn't really think there was any other explanation for it. Her hesitation grew as she didn’t know if she wanted to admit that for the past week she'd thought of H as her soulmate.

_"I'm not sure … do you?"_

_"I'm not sure either b-"_

There was a pause and the writing stopped. Josie held her breath, she didn't know what was coming next but she knew that it was going to change their conversations from here. What was she hoping H was going to say … 'but I really like you?' 'but I have a girlfriend?' 'but I have a boyfriend?'

_"ecause there's this girl that I really like."_

"Deep breathes … Deep breathes" Josie told herself. She tried to make sure she was being as calm as possible, but inside she felt her heart drop. She knew that they'd only been talking for a week but Josie hoped that maybe over time they'd be comfortable enough to decide to meet and sparks would fly and they'd live a fairytale happily ever after - but now that was gone. She knew she had to be rationale and that meant realising that H is and has been living her own life all this time, even before they'd met and that life would entail meeting other people and having … crushes on other people .. And that was alright. She convinced herself that it was alright.

"Tell me more about her." Josie wrote back.

* * *

Once Monday hit, Josie was still feeling like a massive prank was being pulled on her and that she was waiting to hear that H was just a made up person and someone was just wanting to ruin her week - but it never came and ultimately she'd ruined her own week by getting her hopes up. Josie dragged herself out of bed and was basically a walking corpse to all of her morning classes - she kept her head down in all her books, barely spoke to anyone and during lunch she just prodded at her food but never ate any.

After Josie has asked H to tell her about the mystery girl that she liked, H had endless things to say. H said that they went to school together and that she'd liked her for years but was always too nervous to say anything. She described her as intelligent and beautiful, with the most amazing eyes - and with that description Josie knew that there was no way that she could compete - realising that she'd have to just accept that her and H would never be anything more than friends.

In potions Emma had assigned each pair a designated area across the multiple classrooms that they had set aside specifically for this assignment. Josie wasn't sure whether it was lucky or unlucky but due to uneven numbers her and Hope had a whole classroom to themselves which meant there was a lot of silence with Josie not speaking.

"Bad day?" Hope commented, once they'd set all their ingredients down and taken out their recipe.

Josie nodded her head slightly not bothering to look up at Hope and just continuing to organise equipment. After a moment Josie realised from the lack of sound around her that Hope had disappeared and somehow that made Josie even more angry at the world. Her movements of finding the right measuring cups and pots became more aggressive as she opened drawers with more force and placed down the equipment so that it banged on the table.

Josie began to be so focused on trying to find all the right things that she didn't hear Hope come up behind her until she felt Hope's warm hand over hers, gently prying away the metal spatula from her hand and gently placing it onto the table. Hope then grabbed Josie's hand again before slowly leading her away from the tables so they could both sit the ground where Hope had laid out a small blanket and some pillows.

"You don't have to talk about it or say anything but I'm here if you want to." Hope explained to Josie who was still staring straight into her lap trying to focus her thoughts. She nodded in reply. "But for now, I thought we could just take a break and relax - I figured Emma probably won't come check on us anyway. " Hope continued squeezing Josie's hand slightly.

That small movement both made Josie's heart stop but also her shoulders relax. She heard Hope whisper a spell and the next thing she knew there were small dainty feathers falling from the ceiling onto them. Hope had done it once before, for her and Lizzie. Lizzie wasn't a fan, but Josie loved it, it made her feel like she was flying.

"Thanks Hope but you really didn't have to" She knew Hope was trying to cheer her up and she really did appreciate it.

"I know"

Josie let her eyes close as she tried to let all her worries from the past weekend just go away. She knew that she couldn't be jealous of H's other girl and that she should also be focusing on her own life. As Josie started to open her eyes again she felt her breath get stuck in her throat as she realised that Hope's face was merely centimetres away from hers. As if it was all moving in slow motion she saw Hope's hand move up closer to her face and she held her breath wondering what was about to happen.

"You have a feather stuck in your hair" Hope whispered, the air from her words reaching Josie's face, as she moved her fingers to move a feather that was sitting on Josie's hair. "You know …" Hope continued, "you have the most amazing eyes. "

Josie knew that her cheeks turned pink after that. Those words sounded so familiar yet they made her melt. Hope moved back away from her and she missed their closeness the moment she left.

They sat a comfortable silence after that until their potions class ended and they had to leave. Throughout that whole time Hope didn't make a move to disconnect their hands so Josie happily didn't either. It wasn't until after their class that Josie knew that she couldn't deny that her crush on Hope was still very present, it was then that it hit her that she had spent all that time being upset over H when she also had a crush on someone else and she didn't really know what to do about that crush either.

* * *

" _There's a girl I have a crush on as well - but I'm unsure whether she likes me back."_ Josie confessed to H, she figured that since she couldn't tell Lizzie about her potential Hope problem that maybe H could help her out, after all they were friends.

_"Does she flirt with you?"_ She didn't think that Hope had flirted with her - the only person that Josie had ever seen flirt was Lizzie and her and Hope have never said anything alike.

_"She complimented my eyes today, and she really helped cheer me up after I was having a bad day"_

_"Maybe you should see if she wants to spend more time with you"_ Josie knew that wasn't a bad idea, but it was still an idea that made her very nervous.

_"Only if you do the same"_

_"Deal"_

With that Josie got up from her desk, took a quick peek at herself in her mirror before leaving her room to go find Hope. She figured that this time that her best bet would be Hope's room, so she quickly beelined herself towards that direction believing that the faster she got there the less time she'd have to convince herself to back out.

As she neared Hope's door Josie started running over in head exactly what she was going to say when she saw the older girl. Her racing mind has ultimately distracted her from her senses because the next thing Josie realised was that she was faced to face with Hope who had just stepped out of her door.

"Hope! Hi! Wait sorry … were you just leaving?" Josie quickly blurted out, eyes wide still in shock that she was already standing face to face with Hope, totally messing up her original plan.

"I was actually about to come find you," Hope told Josie, stepping back a little so they both had space to actually see each other properly

"Oh." Hope actually was about to find her? What a coincidence! Josie thought to herself.

There was an silence between them, Josie didn't know whether Hope was going to say something or whether now was her time to ask Hope … she decided on the second.

"I was wondering if you wanted to meet tomorrow during our study break to work on our liquid luck since we didn't get as much done today"

Josie saw a smile appear on Hopes face and she felt one also appear on hers.

"That would be perfect" Hope replied and after wishing the older girl goodnight Josie went back to her room feeling giddy and excited to see Hope again tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope everyone is saying safe x thanks for all the kudos and love.  
> add me on Twitter : @bbemli


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope time - sorry it's a little shorter than normal

Even though she knew she didn't have the time for it, Hope paced around her room nervous about going to see Josie. She'd checked her outfit twice in the mirror, which she now realised was pointless since she saw Josie at breakfast this morning and she was wearing the exact same thing.

"Screw it," Hope mumbled to herself before building up the courage to walk downstairs to the lab they were using yesterday. She was normally so composed and now she felt like an absolute mess just because she was going to see a girl that she liked - and it wasn't even a date.

Wait … was it a date - Hope's thoughts caused her to stop walking, almost bumping into a door. If she remembered correctly Jo had asked her to go 'meet', so that meant they were just hanging out, as friends. Yes … she convinced herself that was it, remembering that the aim of today was to see whether there was a chance that Josie liked her too.

When Hope arrived at the lab she saw Josie already running around collecting all their equipment and setting it up for them.

"Am I late?" Hope voiced, looking down at her wrist to check the time before realising that she doesn't even wear a watch.

Josie turned around and smiled. "Hi Hope. No I finished my last class early and thought I might get everything set up so it'll be faster"

Hope felt her face drain with colour realising that Josie just wanted to get their project over and done with as fast as possible and not spend as much time with her.

"Are you just going to stand there or come help me?" Josie's voice rang playfully through Hope's ears.

Either way they had to get this project done, so Hope couldn't complain now - she walked up to the counter and helped Josie collect the rest of their equipment before they picked up where they left off yesterday.

Josie chopped up all the ingredients while Hope stirred at the pot, they worked quickly yet quietly and once all the ingredients were in it came down to waiting for the mixture to boil and, according to the recipe that was going to take at least 20 minutes.

"I can see you're feeling better" Hope commented, her eyes glued to the pot while she stirred it.

"Yeah I am, thanks for asking - did you want to swap?"

Hope nodded her hand was getting a little tired. As Josie went to grab the spoon off her, she felt josie's fingertips brush against the top of hers and she really wanted to hold them again.

On instinct, the older girl's eyes went to look at their hands, she then made the mistake of looking at Josie who was now looking back at her. Those eyes, Hope knew that Josie's eyes made her feel like she could melt, but as she spent more time with her, the feeling felt stronger and stronger. She saw that Josie quickly looked away and she averted her eyes too before handing over the spoon and going to sit down on a table behind where they were both standing.

They both went back to silence. Hope could have sworn that she felt something from Josie in that moment, but at the same time the air between them right now was reeking with an awkward tension. She wanted to just blurt out that she liked the taller brunette but the chance of a rejection would be the worst thing considering they still needed to be here for at least another 10 minutes.

While Hope's brain ran over possible conversation topics she felt a scratchy feeling on her arm and discretely pulled up her sleeve. Taking a quick peek behind her she saw that Josie had her back turned to her, so she wouldn't be able to see anything.

_What do I do - it's so awkward between us -J_

What were the chances that J was also with her crush. She hoped it was going better for J than it was for her.

_Make conversation, see if you have things in common. - H_

_I don't think we would have anything in common, we are really different. - J_

Hope racked her mind for things that she thought humans enjoyed the most. While she knew it was probably all the same things that she liked, she didn't want to say anything that might weird J out.

_Do you both like sports? Music taste? Books? - H_

_I doubt it, maybe the music. But she's got her back to me anyway, I think she might be doing her HW - so much for this … - J_

Oh. Hope didn't really know what to say in response, she looked over at Josie who was still hunched over by the cauldron they were using and she couldn’t relate more.

_I'm sure she has her reasons … - H_

When Hope saw that she only got a sad face in return she felt bad that she couldn't help J more, but the sound of bubbling cut her mind short as she quickly stood up to help Josie pour out their finished liquid luck.

"Don’t forget it tomorrow okay?"

"I won’t" Hope promised, before pocketing the tiny vial, still kind of sad that her time with Josie was a bust.

* * *

_How did it go? -J_

Hope thought that maybe she should reconsider the whole soulmate possibility with J. It wasn't that Hope didn't believe in soulmates, her dad had one and they found each other but never ended up together and she knew that it secretly hurt him - and she didn't want to feel that pain either if they weren't meant to be together. But she did feel like she could talk to J about anything.

_I blew it today. It was so awkward and sometimes I feel like we might have had a moment but then it became weird and we didn't talk - H._

_I'm sure she doesn’t hate you, maybe she's just shy and nervous about talking to you as well._

Hope was about to write a reply when the stark voice of Lizzie Saltzman broke her train of thought.

_"Ew, why do you have Josie's handwriting on your arm?"_

Hope quickly panicked realising that someone had saw her writing. She quickly pulled down her sleeve before she processed the words that just came out of Lizzie's mouth.

"What do you mean Josie's writing?" Hope reiterated. She was sure she just heard Lizzie wrong.

"What you think I don't know my own twins handwriting" Lizzie commented blatantly, before staring at Hope as if she was still waiting for an explanation.

She looked at the blonde twin carefully, before the realisation set in and all the small moments connected and made sense. Hope took one quick look at Lizzie again before she sprinted back up to her room and quickly shut the door behind her realising what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stay safe, love you all.   
> alsoooo I got twitter guys (i heard there's a hosie family waiting for me to join them) - add me @bbemli


	8. Chapter 8

"Deep breathing … deep breathing", Hope mumbled to herself as she paced small circles in her room. She pulled her sleeve up to take a look at her arm again, wondering if maybe she had been going crazy and hallucinating everything but it was still there. She rubbed her fingers over the words and she knew right away that what Lizzie said was correct, it was so obviously Josie's handwriting now that she couldn't understand how she hadn't noticed it before. All the other small dots started connecting in her head. 

Did that mean Josie knew? Had she been making a big fool of herself this whole time? 

The panic started to set in again for Hope. She recalled the breathing techniques that Emma had taught her and started slowly breathing in and out, counting as she went, trying to calm herself down. She sat with her back against the door and slowly tried to recall all of her recent conversations with Josie to figure out when she had figured it out. Hope was now trying to ignore the fact that she had basically confessed her love to J thinking it was Josie, and that the other girl probably was just being nice by not saying anything. 

A knock at Hope's door vibrated against her back and she hoped that whoever it was they'd just go away but when Hope heard a familiar voice she couldn't help but open it. 

"Josie," Hope's breath whispered out. She looked at the brunette and wondered how long had she known and how was she so good at keeping it a secret. Hope had barely known for 30 minutes and she already wanted to spill everything. 

"Can I er- Can I come in?" Josie motioned into Hope's bedroom. 

Hope nodded quickly, before opening her door wider and letting Josie walk inside. The younger girl went to sit on the edge of Hope's bed so she joined her, leaving a small gap between them. 

"I wanted to say sorry for earlier - I didn't mean for it to be so awkward. I had a lot on my mind and I shouldn't have been so weird … I hope you can forgive me"

Forgive her? Hope thought - she was the one that should be apologising as well considering that she also ignored Josie basically that whole time. The irony now that she had realised that they were both talking to each other anyway - she guessed that Josie needed to keep up the pretence that she was pretending to not know that it was Hope. 

"Oh no … I'm sorry too," Hope apologised. 

"It's okay" Josie mumbled back. 

The two of them then sat in silence. Hope didn't know whether she was meant to say anything now. Was she meant to offer Josie a drink or food? Every time someone came to her aunts house they always offered them food - but she guessed that her room wasn't exactly a house. She peeked over at Josie who was staring around Hope's room, probably wondering what secret things she kept in here. 

As the taller girl leaned around to take a look at what Hope was keeping near her bed, Hope noticed her sleeve pull up and she was staring right at the last message that she'd left for the other girl. So it was all real, Hope thought to herself. 

"Oh wow … my handwriting is so gross." The moment she said it Hope knew it was a mistake. 

"What?" Josie quickly pulled her arm away pulling her sleeve right down, shuffling away from Hope a little. Hope felt herself start to panic again - maybe she had made a big mistake. 

"Your handwriting?" Josie repeated, her mouth agape processing what Hope had just said. Hope nodded slowly, confused by the situation - she thought that Josie knew? 

When Josie suddenly stood up and backed away, Hope started to panic, what had changed?. The younger girls faced changed emotions almost instantly from confused to a look of disgust. 

"How long have you known?" Josie spat out, obviously upset now. 

"I thought you knew…" Hope mumbled to herself before standing up as well, her arms out hoping that Josie hadn't already decided to hate her before she could explain. She took a step closer to Josie, who luckily didn't move further away from her hand. "I just found out - it's a funny story how actually" But when the words came out of Hope's mouth she knew that a funny story was not what Josie wanted to hear right now. 

Hope grabbed a pen off Josie's nightstand and pulled up her sleeve to write out a message. 

hi :)

Hope softly grabbed Josie's arm and pulled her sleeve up and there enough was her message scribbled onto Josie's arm. Hope looked back up at Josie, who was now starting at her arm and she could've sworn that she heard Josie's breath catch in her throat. 

"It's really you," the taller brunette said looking back up at Hope smiling. 

Hope nodded back fondly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that it's short ... i tried to squeeze a chapter in - I've been crazy busy with trying to handle two jobs and uni right now :( I hope everyone is safe and well.


End file.
